I'm Back!

New Year's resolutions and all that! I plan on doing better at keeping you all up to date on the happenings here... So you can stop nagging (you know who you are!)

2010 was good to the Bates Family. I won't bore you with all the details... just the cliff notes.

JANUARY

We hit our 7 year mark! My Rock, my Pillow, my Spider Killer! I love you.

Michael (aka: the rocket launcher)
Zach (aka: the rocket)
The bunk bed (aka: the launching pad)
Do the math:

The resulting moustache scab lasted 3 months.

Daniel turned 3:

John made me wish for more babies:

FEBRUARY

They all make me want more babies... Can the world handle more Bates Boys?



MARCH

Michael climbed to the very top and rang the bell!



APRIL

Easter:

Digging begins:

John turns 1:

MAY

Drew and I sneak away for an overnight date (SWEET!) and climb Timpanogus:

Michael "graduates" Kindergarten, and we cry over leaving the best teacher he will ever have:

Not to brag... but he got the award for being the one who was always doing the right thing! I'm beaming!

JUNE

We prepare to move here:

Fathers and Sons campout... maybe my favorite day of the year:

We say goodbye:

JULY

Don't ask me:

Finally, enough room to stretch our legs:

Fireworks at Liberty Park:

AUGUST

Zach turns 5!

We soak up the last of the summer sun:

New school:

SEPTEMBER

Lizard hunting in the backyard:

OCTOBER

Handyman's birthday:

For HIS birthday he built ME a bench!

Drew's best bud Alex comes for a much overdue visit:

And we welcome Rocks (the cat) to the family.

Michael turns 7:

NOVEMBER

Why is he so cute?!

Thanksgiving at our house:

DECEMBER

Grandma Jan comes for a visit:

We chop down a monster "tree" for Christmas:

The End. We had a great Christmas, but the proof is still on the camera. Use your imagination!

Edward Scissor-Hands Strikes Again!

Grrr!

Do your kids ever do something that makes you want to scream, laugh, and cry all at the same time? Or...is that just the definition of raising a boy?

I have this thing about baby hair...I might need to lie down on a couch here, so feel free to grab a pencil and a steno pad and mumble, "Hmmm..."

We can all remember the tragic events of 2004, when my "loving" brother ripped my baby from my arms and shaved his tiny little head in front of my eyes...exaggerating? No...well...a little. That night I cried into my pillow for hours because my baby was growing up. I was a little traumatized and I wish THAT was an exaggeration. There is just something kind of awesome about the wispy duck fuzz on top of a baby's head. And once it's gone...well, you might as well pack his bags and ship him off to college, because he's practically there already!

Anyway, back to the relevant events of this post:

Yesterday I was a tad distracted with packing (maybe a lot distracted) and left the boys to play upstairs. Things were going a little too well and I was a little TOO focused to notice that the house was deathly quiet (never a good sign with 4 boys on the prowl).

Then came the stampede.

"Mom! Michael cut his hair!"
"No, I didn't!"
"With the green scissors!"
"He's lying!"

And on and on!

When the smoke cleared I was left with two little boys that looked like they leaned a little too close to the weed wacker!

In my defense I was only momentarily shaken and had the presence of mind to snap a couple of pics. John got a stylish V cut in the front.

You can't really see it, but Michael cut off all his bangs, right down to the nubs!

Do you like the dazed look on his face? I told him to think of his favorite thing. He went to his happy place and when I asked him afterward what he was thinking about he said it was Spencer's Star Wars Legos!

My morning will now be spent buzzing the duck fuzz!

Because I should be cleaning...

My house is messy, my boys are covered in peanut butter, and I am tired... So I'm sitting here blogging instead of getting busy. I think I have about 5 minutes before the peanut butter starts to migrate to the walls and door knobs.



Yesterday was my 31st birthday! I know, I'm old. We stayed up late the night before, and so by the time our heads hit the pillow it was well after midnight. Drew wished me Happy Birthday, and we sleepily pulled out the scriptures to read where we had left off the night before. This was the first sentence that I read..."And thus ended the thirtieth year..." Get it, thus ENDED the 30th year?! Ha, ha , okay, I realize that I'm the only one that finds that coincidence funny.



(*Ahem*) Anyway, the next morning I woke up to a bright shiny new mountain bike waiting for me in the living room: Pretty, huh? And just begging to be taken out on the open road, or really secluded path, since I'm sort of shy that way! So I took a nice long ride all by myself and came home to a clean house!



It was my day to teach Michael's class and of course, my lovely son informed everyone that it was his mommy's 31st birthday (the kid has no shame!) so a classroom full of 6 year olds sang "Happy Birthday" to me while I was holding a styrofoam cake and wearing giant cake shaped glasses! That night Drew baked me a pretty cake and made burgers, while I sat on the couch and watched him. Then we put the kids to bed and watched LOST, because we are obsessed like that! All in all, a pretty awsome day.

Little John

The little guy had his first birthday a couple weeks ago, and I am just now posting it (shameful)!
It was such a fun day, mostly because his 3 older brothers were over-the-moon excited about it. I never get tired of how much they adore EVERY holiday. I think it drives Drew a little crazy because they get too worked up to sleep when a big one is coming...They were up until 1 am the night before St. Patrick's Day! So, of course, they were standing by my bed before (WAY before) the crack of dawn in eager anticipation. "Mommy, when can we bake the cake?" "Can John open his presents yet?"

Before breakfast even started this is what our kitchen looked like...

Ande there was a lot of this going on...

All while the birthday boy looked on, drooling.

I had taken the boys to Walmart the day before to pick out a present just from them. Let me tell you, never was so much thought put into one gift. Would John like the Optimus Prime or the Ninja Turtle more? After about 30 minutes in the toy department and with a "little" coaxing from mommy, we headed to the baby section and looked at the toys that posed much less of a choking hazard. There were several votes taken and a few fits thrown, but finally they agreed that the stuffed Tigger was the way to go.

After it was opened and long forgotten by the Birthday boy, I found out why Daniel had been so determined to buy Tigger...

He was in love!

John, however, had a different favorite toy.

We could barely get him to look at any of his other presents.




And then came cake and ice cream. John couldn't quite figure out the fine art of blowing out the candles, but he did give it a try, it the form of spitting on the cake.

I didn't put much thought into the mess that a bright blue and black cake could create in the hands of a 1 year old...

He squished it in between his chubby little fingers.

He sucked on it, and smeared it on his high chair.

In the end, I think he got some of it in his mouth.

I was changing blue diapers for a couple of days after THAT one!

And I still can't quite get it to wash out of the high chair cover!

Happy Birthday my Little Man!

:)

He makes me happy!

Trying to catch up...

Man! I can't believe the school year is almost over. It has been a crazy year, and I think March was the CRAZIEST month of all. I have a lot to post, but no time to do it. So until then, here is a teaser... No, that's not our house, but yes, that is what it will look like when it's done....except in reverse...and minus the snow. Pretty cute, huh?

Yesterday, I took the boys to the "groundbreaking" and we sat for half an hour and watched them dig our hole. It was AWSOME!

While we were sitting there a herd of cows started a parade behind our fence followed by 3 cowboys on horses. You can kind of see the cows behind the back fence. The boys were in heaven!

Why?!

That seems to be the ONLY question we hear these days. Why would anyone move their family out to Grantsville, UT? I have heard ALL the reasons why NOT... the commute, the water, the schools, the COMMUTE! I just want to reassure all of you AGAIN that a lot of soul searching and prayer went into this life altering decision. Taking the boys away from the city where they have accumulated almost all of their memories, where they have so many amazing friends and family, and where we find ourselves surrounded by constant love and support was not an easy decision to come to.

We prayed, and cried, and searched...


but in the end...


This won out! That is the veiw of our soon-to-be yard. And way back you can see the boys and I standing at the back fence.

Here is a closer shot...kind of... We took the boys out there last week to show them. They jumped out of the car and ran like the wild things that they are. They spent the next very cold few minutes digging at mouse/snake/gopher holes and throwing rocks. I didn't have to say "Don't yell, you will bug the neighbors!" or "Stay out of that yard." They were just free. Considering they have been calling a postage stamp their back yard for the passed 4 years, this was heaven! Already they are making plans for a dog...ummm...I told them dogs require fences so I think we dodged the bullet on that one for a little while...

This is the reservoir near our little plot of weeds.

I realize this is not everyone's ideal place of residence, but it is perfect for us and I am in love!